News round-up: Apple leads Laptop Mag’s Tech Support Showdown (and more

Since Steve and I can’t cover everything, at the end of each week day, we’ll offer this wrap-up of news items you should check out.

Despite minor issues, Apple continued to top most of the competition in this year’s Tech Support Showdown by Laptop Magazine, which says the combination of Twitter, live online chats, its support app and phone calls provides a solid base for the company’s support. Oh, and there’s also the Genius Bar, which is widely available, thanks to its placement in every Apple Store.

According to a letter Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers sent to Foxconn executive Louis Woo, the state is renegotiating a deal that promised the Taiwan-based company (a major Apple supplier) incentives in return for building a massive manufacturing and R&D facility in the region, reports CNBC .

As noted by macReports, Apple’s number of self-driving cars in California has shrunk. It now has 69 cars and 110 drivers under its permit to test autonomous vehicles. In November 2018, Apple had 72 autonomous vehicles (and 144 drivers) permitted to test on public roads, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. 

The latest MacVoices reports on a service that provides a source of affordable, licensed music for video projects. Soundstripe Vice President of Marketing Chris Small explains how they have simplified the complex world of music licensing, how they add monthly to their collection of music, and how you can find what you need. 

Quark has announced details about QuarkXPress 2019, the next major release of the company’s graphic design and page layout software for creative professionals.